Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death is one of those classic tales of horror you may remember from High School literature.
During a plague — known only as the Red Death — the rich and elite seclude themselves from the rabble and proceed to have a private, masked ball.
An unexpected guest, costumed as the Red Death, makes an appearance in a funeral shroud. The men rally together with the intent of murdering the stranger. How else to you deal with an “other” who is not one of the elite in-group?
None of this will sound unfamiliar, as we have seen this play out many ways in history. Although, Poe clearly wrote fiction, who does not recognize the selfish arrogance of those who think themselves separate, and even above, the fate of all people?
The Masque, or Mask, of the Red Death, got me thinking about people who wear a mask of masculinity. Like Prince Prospero in the story, their answer to how to deal with a plague is to declare themselves above it, and in no way subject to the same limitations and restrictions of us more submissive folk.
Hide every hint of “weakness”
Toxic masculinity often shows up behind a mask of assumed ‘manliness’. It seeks to hide any vulnerability as weakness.
Submission is seen as a feminine trait. Compliance with rules, even, is seen as something to rebel and assert against. Only the weak and effeminate would present himself, (in rarer cases, herself) as someone who cooperates with, well, cooperation.
It was widely noted when President Trump refused to wear a face mask — even when touring a face mask factory! — that he was showing his “strength.’ Also telling, was his explanation, that he gets tested frequently. Although you or I cannot get regular testing, he, of course, can.
That he is oblivious to the outrage sparked by what the implication displays, shows that he has never bothered to try to comprehend his arrogance.
Now he is asserting that he has been taking Hydroxychloroquine for a couple of weeks now. People who need if for Lupus, or malaria are at risk, amid shortages.
But, Trump is tough. He is manly. He has no heart condition. Never mind that many would assert he has no heart. He has also gone on record touting cures that require more of a strong body than a robust brain. Who suggests ingesting potent disinfectants or “powerful” UV light? The use of words like “strong, powerful, huge, tremendous,” and of course, “great”, spill out of Trump’s mouth with tremendous regularity. He also like the phrase “a lot of money,” and “fighter jets”, when swooning sentimental about Mother’s Day and the full appreciation he has for women and devoted motherhood, itself.
The leaders who lead sheep
At Press conferences for weeks now, Trump and Pence, and a handful of others, stand around routinely showing off how utterly mask-less they are, while Anthony Fauci, and perennially scarfed Deb Birx, melt into the background like compliant sheep. What a bunch of unimportant wusses our national “expert” advisors are! screams the optics.
This attitude models boorish disregard.
Now, urged and emboldened by Trump are those few revelers that want to spill out of their secluded palaces to get back to those services provided by all of we lesser beings: Hair styling, manicures, food service workers, and drivers.
Their demands for “liberation’ are ironic. They are not usually the limited or wage dependent, yet they see their liberty as being of more critical importance than the liberation of service workers who are most at risk for contracting COVID-19.
Who was that masked man? Maybe a woman.
The mask of masculinity is an idea you can explore through books, podcasts, Ted Talks, and more. It explores the reality of how men are taught from boyhood to refuse any show of vulnerability. Told to “man up” and not allow feelings to be either acknowledged, much less displayed.
The completely misnamed “Strong Man” leaders are stereotypical masculinity masked men. Like Hitler, Stalin (He named himself “steel”) and Mussolini, they assume that superhero strength lies in a presentation that disregards empathy.
In modern times, we have people like Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro. To be able to raise a strong hand against those who are vulnerable, in their ideology, shows a strength that most non-sociopathic types clearly read as callous.
To wrap your head around it requires that you can see what is exploitative, whether it be of an Amazon rain forest, or an Amazon delivery floor, where workers are underpaid.
Wearing the toxic mask of masculinity is not simply something done to females by males. This is critically important to recognize. That women teach their little boys to stifle empathy is a fact. That men wear their toxic masks to assert dominance over other men, is a fact.
That reassurance and encouragement itself cannot be given to a populace without at least a brief release of hubris is also a fact.
Red blooded Americans and red hats as masks
The Red Mask of Death that Trump is wearing can be overwhelmingly found in Red States. This is not to say these people are deplorable, or defective. But I do think that they are lied to, and misled. They are drinking the red Kool-Aid under the mesmerizing promise of power promised beneath the blood red lights. What they fear is the “others” who are sneaking in and trying to unseat their power, or their traditions.
When people stop to think that blood coursing through the other is just as red as theirs, and just as American, we can truly face challenges together in a solidarity that is of true strength.
Until the masked realize that they are at the masked ball, they can’t recognize the common fate of shared humanity. In Poe’s tale, that great equalizer is Death itself. I hope we can find more in common than death, in time for a unified nation.
I pray we can remove our most damaging masks to find our authentic selves.
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This post was previously published on Equality Includes You and is republished here with permission from the author.
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Photo credit: Christyl Rivers